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On August 21, 2015, CCOF was recognized by the Mexican government as an approved certification body under the recently implemented Mexican Organic Standards. This is a major milestone in the growth of CCOF’s Mexico program and ensures continuing market access for operations located in, and exporting to, Mexico. Read more in our press release about this announcement.

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CCOF’s work to obtain approval as a certification body under the new Mexican organic standards continues with the selection of CCOF local representative, Luis Lopez in Guadalajara, Mexico. CCOF boards have also approved the formation of CCOF Servicios de Certificación S. de R.L. de C.V. to meet the needs of CCOF operations based in Mexico. CCOF’s Spanish language services and documents will also soon expand to include processor/handler operations and Organic System Plans.

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The Chinese standard does not allow equivalence agreements with other countries for organic products, meaning U.S. operations wishing to send their organic product to China are required to obtain direct certification to the Chinese standard through a Chinese certification body. In an effort to alleviate some of the time, money, and labor this process requires, CCOF met with representatives of WIT Assessment, one of the highest ranking certifiers in China, on May 15, 2014. CCOF and WIT are in ongoing discussions to help improve the process for U.S. organic products entering China.

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CCOF was formally listed in the Official Journal for the European Union as an Equivalent Certifier on December 6, 2011. Under this listing, effective July 1, 2012, CCOF certification under the Global Market Access (GMA) program will allow for export to Europe without requiring import licenses. This is a significant improvement that CCOF and our clients have been awaiting since the application was submitted in October 2009.

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The Chinese market is proving to be a challenging one for U.S. organic produce to enter. Chinese consumers are demanding more U.S. organic product, while only a handful of U.S. operations are certified to the Chinese standard and are exporting product there. In an effort to expand the global reach of U.S. organic and ease the rigors of direct certification to the Chinese standard, CCOF is working with WIT Assessment, a Chinese certifier, to find solutions to this trade issue.

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The Organic Trade Association (OTA), a membership-based association with the mission to promote and protect organic trade, recently launched an online resource to help foster growing relationships between U.S. organic producers and foreign buyers. Their U.S. Export Directory, a searchable database of U.S.